1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an agricultural feed bagging machine and more particularly to an agricultural feed bagging machine having an improved bag pan support provided thereon.
2. Background Information
Agricultural feed bagging machines have been employed for several years to pack or bag silage or the like into elongated plastic bags. Two of the earliest bagging machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,061 and 4,046,068. In the prior art bagging machines, silage or the like is supplied to the forward or intake end of the bagging machine and is fed to a rotor or the like which conveys the silage into a tunnel on which the bag is positioned so that the bag is filled. As the silage is loaded into the bag, the bagging machine moves away from the filled end of the bag in a controlled fashion so as to achieve uniform compaction of the silage material within the bag.
The empty elongated plastic bags are in a folded condition and are initially positioned over the rearward end of the tunnel of the machine. The conventional tunnels have a curved top wall, downwardly extending side walls and a floor located at the lower forward end thereof. Normally, the tunnel has a bag pan positioned below the floor which supports the lower end of the folded bag to keep the folded bag from dragging on the ground beneath the bagging machine. Normally, the conventional bag pans are pivotally secured at their forward ends to the machine and are raised and lowered by means of chains connected to the opposite ends of the rearward end of the bag pan. The prior art chain supports for the bag pans normally required that one side of the bag pan be lifted at a time with a proper chain link being located and secured so that there would be sufficient clearance between the bag pan and the tunnel floor bottom to enable the bag to slide and pass from the tunnel without ripping while yet preventing the entire bag from pulling from the tunnel at one time.